Feinting peess and folding mechanism



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. L. FIRM. PRINTING PRESS AND FOLDING MECHANISM.

No. 546,136. Patented Sept. 10,1895.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets--Sheet 2.

J. L. FIRM. PRINTING PRESS AND FOLDING MECHANISM. No. 546,136. Patented Sept. 10,1895.

mum B GRAHAM. PNOTO-UTNU.WASHINEI'ON. up,

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. L. FIRM. PRINTING PRESS AND FOLDING MECHANISM. No. 546,136. Patented Sept. 10, 1895.

(No Model.) 4 SheetsSheet 4. J. L. FIRM.

PRINTING PRESS AND FOLDING MEGHANIS M.

Patented Sept. 10, 1895.

UNITED STATES ATENT Prion.

JOSEPH L. FIRM, OF JERSEY CITY, NEWV JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE GOSS PRINTING PRESS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PRINTiNG-PRESS AND FOLDING MECHANISM.

SPEGIFZCATIGN forming part of Letters Patent No. 546,136, dated September 10, 1895.

Application filed April 10, 1886. Serial No. 198,443. (No model.)

To (0% whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J osnrn L. FIRM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing-Presses and Folding Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is to print and fold sheets for illustrated book and newspaper work and to avoid offset-ting by the illustrations coming in contact with'the folding mechanism.

The invention will be described first, and then particularly pointed out and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure l is a side elevation of sufficient of a printing-press to illustrate my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view; Fig. 3, an end view 0E folding mechanism. Figs. 4 and 5 are diagrams reversed in the direction of the curved arrows, illustrating the inside and outside of a thirty-two-page paper of two signatures of sixteen pages each. Figs. 6 and 7 are diagrams reversed in the direction of the curved arrows thereon, illustrating the inside and outside of a single sheet thirty-two-page paper. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of part of a printing-press containing my invention.

The frame, partly indicated in Figs. 2 and 8, but not otherwise set forth, may be of appropriate construction to receive the several parts of the machine.

A is a standard, provided with a shaft 13, to receive a roll of paper 0.

D and E are feed rolls, and F and G are complementary paper-dividing cylinders, all shown in purely conventional fashion, and no claim being here made to these features, and they being merely structural devices of the mechanic, I deem it unnecessary to to rther illustrate and describe them.

- K and I are complementary tapes arranged upon wheels 1 2 and 3 4, respectively, and driven from the cylinder M. The wheels at are geared to cain-disks 5 and the complementary cam-disks 6, oo-operating with the wheels 7, are driven by gears so 1 from the cylinder G.

M is a combined curved form and impression cylinder, B. being the form thereon, and said cylinder having grippers L, as commonly employed.

0 is a curved-form cylinder having the curved form 0', and making two revolutions to one of the cylinder M, and provided with lifting devices, substantially such as shown in Fig. 8, and consisting of a cam a on the shaft of the cylinder M, which actuates a lever b", (shown in dotted lines,) fulcrumed at 0 on the frame d and carrying the cylinder 0, and havinga friction-roller at its other end engaged by the cam a Suitable inking mechanism, substantially such as indicated in the drawings, may be employed to ink form 0 twice to once of form R.

P is an impression-cylinder to rotate twice to once of cylinder M, and provided with ordinarygrippers Q and suitable tapes, as indicated.

The details of the gearing, folding mechanism and the like will now appear in the following description of the operation of my machine. The paper is taken from the roll 0 over the top of the roller D and under the roller E to the paper-dividing cylinders F and G, where it is partially cut or perforated. The Web is then led to the tapes I and K. The cam-disk 6 and wheel 7 run at the surface speed of the cutting-cylinder, while the wheel 4 and cam-disk 5 run at the surface speed of the intermediate impression and form cylinder M. When that part of the web C which is partially cut and perforated to form a sheet is between and engaged by the cam-disk 6 and wheel 7 and wheel 4 and cam-disk 5, the wheel 4 and camdisk 5 running faster than the parts 6 and 7, the paper will be torn apart at the perforated portion and taken at the front part by the-gripper L on the combined impression and form cylinder H, and its first side printed by the curved form 0' imposed on the form-cylinder O, to print as shown in Fig. 4, the page-numbers being placed as they will occur on the printed and folded sheet, 1' being the line of the first fold, 2' the second. 8 the third, and t the line of division. All these forms are parallel to the axis of the form= cylinders. All these forms have illustrations, and they are inked twice by the rollers on the form-cylinder O, the said cylinder 0 mak ing two revolutions to one of the intermediate impression and form cylinder M. The sheet then passes onward,as indicated by the arrows, and is transferred to the impressioncylinder P by the gripper Q. The cylinder Ois lifted out of contact, and the sheet is then printed on the second side by the curved form R imposed on the cylinder M, viz: by pages to print as indicated in Fig. 5, which register with the pages of Fig. 3, the arrow on eaclffigure indicating the direction of travel, and pages 8, 5, 24 and 21 being on the back of pages 7, 6,23 and22, respectively, and so on. The pages in Fig. 5 are parallel to the axis of the form-cylinder M, and complete the second side of the sheet, or two signatures of sixteen pages. These last-named sixteen pages are all type-matter, so as to insure no offsetting to the folding mechanism.

In addition to the above imposition, there can be added cuts or illustrations to pages 4, 13, 12, 5, S and 9, and pages 20, 29, 28, 21, 24 and 25, as they all fold inwardly, and leave only pages 1 and 16 and pages 17 and 32 that are folded outwardly and exposed to all the folding mechanism.

In Figs. 6 and 7 the two sides of a single thirty-two-page sheet are shown, paged in accordance with my manner of imposing the form. I do not, however, herein claim anything in this connection. Such a sheet will be delivered flat and folded by hand.

In practice I would prefer to use cuts only on the sixteen pages, which are all folded inwardly on the first fold, to thus insure no off setting to the sheet while being taken from the cylinder M by the gripper Q, as before described, and held while the impression-cylinder P makes one revolution. By the time the cylinder P has completed its second revolution the curved form R has printed the second side of the sheet, and the said sheet is then delivered to the gripper-cylinder S, which delivers it to the delivery-bands T, which run over wheels 8 and 0. hen the sheet passes over the gripper-cylinder S, it is cut in two by the rotary knife \V, which runs in a groove in the center of this cylinder. (See Fig. 2.) The sheet, having been thus parted in its longitudinal center, is now held by the gripper-bands T until it is by them advanced to the folding-knives U and V, (shown in Figs. 2 and 3,) which knives drive the two parts of the divided sheet between two pairs of rollers 11 and 12 and 13 and 14, which are placed at right angles to the cylinder M. These series of pairs of rollers 11 and 12 are furnished with tapes a a, which pass under the rollers 13 and 14. The two sheets of sixteen pages each thus folded are passed from the rollers 11 and 12 and 13 and 14 by the tapes a to the rollers 15 and 16, when the folding-knife X drives each of the folded sheets successively between the wheels 15 and 16, which are parallel to the impressioncylinder P. These wheels are furnished with gripper-bands Z), one set of which also runs over the wheels 17, which bands are so timed as to receive the sheet and deliver it to the second set of wheels 18 and 10, when the folding-knife Y drives it between these wheels and delivers it between a series of curved spring-steel bands 20 and 21. As the back end of the folded sheet is passing through the wheels 13 and 19 and has entered the bands 20 and 21, it meets the sickle-cams 22, of which there are two, and the sickle-cams 23, which are set in spring boxes, which cams take the folded sheet and deliver it to the delivery-box Z under the automatic springholder 24. As the first half of the sheet is about to receive its last fold, the second half is about to receive its second. By this means each signature is delivered behind the other, it requiring two sets of rollers to make the longitudinal fold and only one set of wheels or rollers for folding each of the two folds of the two half-sheets and running at the same surface speed as the intermediate impression and form cylinder M. The box Z is furnished with gages to move the bottom of the box up or down. The box is set at an angle substantially such as shown and is parallel to the first folding-rollers.

It is to be understood that by folding the sheet longitudinally no attention to the folding device for the different sizes of sheets is required, as I prefer for all bookwork to have the forms made up in fours, eights, sixteens, or thirty-twos, forIcut the sheets and fold for such impositions.

The roller E may be geared to the cuttingcylinder G, which latter is driven from the bevel-gears c and d on the intermediate impression and form cylinder M through the rod e and suitable gearing. (Not shown.)

As the inking devices are such as are used for other presses and are old, no claim is made thereto, and no detail description thereof is deemed necessary, since they are plainly indicated in the drawings herein; but I may say that in Fig. 8 I have shown the cylinder M divided into three portions, B being the form; R, the inking-surface; R the impression-surface, and R R ink-rollers mounted in sliding carriers operated by a cam on the shaft of the cylinder M.

The transferring of the sheet by grippers being old, that mechanism, as shown in Fig. 1, needs no description.

IVhat I claim is l. A curved-form printing cylinder, and an impression cylinder that make two revolutions, in combination with inking rollers, substantially as set forth, and an intermediate impression and form cylinder making one revolution whereby the curved form cylinder is double inked, and the intermediate impression and formpylinder is single inked, substantially as set forth.

2. A form cylinder holding forms imposel in the manner described, gripper-cylinders and bands '1 for advancing the printed sheet, and a splitting knife, in combination with IIO folding knives U and V, and wheels 11 and 12, and 13 and 14 for folding a sheet by a positive motion in two signatures as hereinbefore specified.

3. In a paper folding mechanism,the curved guides 20 and 21, in combination with the sickle cams 22 and 23, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4.. In a printing press, the combination sub stantially as set forth, of a curved-form cylinder, and an impression cylinder, of substan- 

